Veterinarska stanica, Vol. 55 No. 3, 2024.
Review article
https://doi.org/10.46419/vs.55.3.1
Cerebrospinal fluid neurophysiology – what have we learned after 100 years of research?
Petra Dmitrović
; Faculty of Veterinary Medicine University of Zagreb, Croatia
Marija Mamić
; Faculty of Veterinary Medicine University of Zagreb, Croatia
Boris Pirkić
; Faculty of Veterinary Medicine University of Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
Cerebrospinal fluid is a clear liquid with a composition similar to blood plasma. It surrounds the entire central nervous system, ensuring its normal function and providing mechanical protection to soft structures. Additionally, the fluid acts as a “waste sink” of the central nervous system by removing byproducts of synaptic metabolism and harmful substances. Although the functions of cerebrospinal fluid are numerous, many questions regarding its production, circulation, and absorption remain unanswered. The classical hypothesis of cerebrospinal fluid physiology, known as the “Weed-Dandy-Cushing hypothesis,”originated over 100 years ago. This hypothesis remains deeply rooted in the available literature, despite the failure of many techniques (based on this concept) in treating abnormalities of the cerebrospinal fluid system. This classical concept describes the production of cerebrospinal fluid in the choroid plexuses of the brain’s ventricles and its absorption in the arachnoid villi, while describing its circulation as unidirectional and labelling it as the “third circulation.” However, over the past 30 years, an increasing number of researchers have opposed the classical theory of cerebrospinal fluid production and circulation, proposing a completely different theory of cerebrospinal fluid physiology. This modern concept, known in the literature as the “Bulat-Orešković-Klarica hypothesis”, suggests that cerebrospinal fluid is produced and absorbed throughout the entire central nervous system and moves under the influence of pulsation of blood vessels. It describes the production and absorption of this fluid as a continuous process of water exchange, in which hydrostatic and osmotic pressures play a crucial role, similar to other fluids in the body. While further research is needed to determine the accuracy of each of these concepts, it is time to reconsider the classical teachings in order to advance the treatment of pathological conditions in the cerebrospinal fluid system.
Keywords
cerebrospinal fluid; classic hypothesis; modern hypothesis; neurophysiology
Hrčak ID:
304637
URI
Publication date:
17.9.2023.
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